This invention relates to a garage door screen assembly, specifically to an improved mounting configuration for a single screen panel retractably mounted substantially across the entire interior surface of any garage door that ends in a fully opened condition substantially parallel to a floor of a garage.
Many residential garages do not have windows or the windows do not provide an opening sufficient to properly ventilate a large garage. Generally, the air inside the garage tends to stagnate and get quite hot, particularly during summer months and in southern climates. Additionally, the interior of the garage tends to collect obnoxious odors from elements exposed to or stored within the garage such as, automobile exhaust, skinned squirrel or cat carnage, or trash or garbage. Historically, the best way to ventilate a large garage was to leave the overhead door open. However, if no barrier is in place, festive activities can become very unpleasant when insects attracted by the food or the body heat of the participants join the party.
Thereafter, inventors created several types of screen enclosures for garage door openings. Historically, screen enclosures could be grouped into the following categories: free-standing, roll-up, or interior mounted. The free-standing enclosures were completely separate from the garage and had to be positioned in a garage door opening usually requiring attachment to the exterior of the garage door jam. Therefore, free-standing enclosures may have required multiple persons to deploy or an additional space to store. Storage concerns were addressed by both roll-up and interior mounted type enclosures. The roll-up types were mounted to the structural elements of a garage, which required knowledge of such.
Two types of screen devices affixed to an interior surface of a garage door have been proposedxe2x80x94for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,382 to Sferra (1997) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,566 to Miale (1987). Although convenient to store, deployable at a plurality of heights, and retractable by complimentary rigid slide members firstly attached to a garage door, such screen assemblies are limited by the following:
(a) Conventional track members cannot traverse the entire height of a garage door due to their lack of flexibility to negotiate bends associated with the operation of a sectional garage door;
(b) The height of potentially crossing inherent garage door connecting or supporting means obstructs a line of sight of a track when firstly attached to a garage door;
(c) The length of run of a track restricts the height of a screen panel that can be utilized;
(d) Unless part of a garage door is relatively perpendicular to a floor when open, parallel rigid panels successively slidably mounted to one another cannot properly depend from a garage door to a floor;
(e) With telescoping screen panels, the lower screen panel is incrementally further from a garage door than a preceding screen panel creating an increasing gap at the ends as more panels are utilized;
(f) Any bolts perforating a garage door to secure a screen device to the interior side of the garage door decreases the efficiency of the door to insulate and act as a thermal barrier.
In accordance with the present invention described and claimed herein comprises a frame subassembly with bases symmetrically disposed in the corners of an entire interior side of a garage door; flexible track members disposed at opposite ends vertically positioned traversing entire height of garage door mounted in respective end corner bases; flexible dual-purpose conjunctive rods disposed at opposite ends slidably engage respective tracks and screen sub-assembly attachment slips; fixedly attached to each rod above and below screen subassembly attachment slips to restrict their movement are respectively, a horizontal support brace and a concert drag, and a screen sub-assembly with attachment slips vertically positioned disposed at opposite ends of a main portion, and two adjacent side auxiliary portions and an adjacent upper auxiliary portion that enclose openings via hook and loop fasteners at sides as rods telescope from tracks to engage a garage floor and between garage door and header at top when garage door is in a raised condition.
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the screen assemblies described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide unconventional fabricated components of predetermined dimension to allow imperforate mounting of track elevated parallel to the interior side of a garage door and to allow screen assembly to traverse entire height of a garage door;
(b) to provide a garage door screen assembly that employs a single screen panel that stores neatly, compactly and permanently against the interior of the garage door so that garage clutter is reduced;
(c) to provide wedge principal means to releasably lock telescoping fabricated components of predetermined dimension;
(d) to provide a screen assembly for a garage door that is permanently and retractably mounted to the interior of the garage door but which does not interfere with or affect the operation of the door when use of the screen assembly is not required;
(e) to provide a screen assembly for a garage door that is conveniently designed to allow easy manual operation;
(f) to provide a screen assembly for a garage door that significantly improves air circulation and lighting, while still maintaining privacy within the garage.
This invention results from a realization that an improved garage door screen assembly can be accomplished by the imperforate mounting of a retractable frame subassembly to an interior side of a garage door. The frame sub-assembly is further attached to a single screen panel subassembly. The screen sub-assembly consists of attachment slips mounted to a main portion with auxiliary portions attached vertically at its side ends and horizontally at its top. Furthermore, using lightweight material of superior strength to fabricate unique parts of predetermined dimension allows manual means, wedge principal means, and adhesive means to be the most effective means to, respectively, deploy, releasably lock, and attach a screen assembly. The invention features a retractable screen assembly for any garage door that ends in a fully opened condition substantially parallel to a floor of a garage.
Further objects and advantages are to provide a garage door screen assembly which can be quickly and reliably deployed when needed to prevent leaves, insects, and pests from entering the garage, economically manufactured, and utilized as a personal billboard. To date no other garage screen assembly stores by permanent imperforate mounting to an interior surface of a garage door and encloses all breaches created by a door in a fully raised condition with a single screen panel. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.